History:
The workhouse was built in 1824 by the Reverend J T Becher to care for the 'old and infirm' who could not work, and to act as a deterrent to the 'idle and profligate' who he suspected 'would not work'.
It was considered experimental in workhouse design and influenced the 1834 New Poor Law that established similar workhouses across the country.
In 1870, an infirmary was built and by 1926 a further was needed demonstrating the shift of emphasis from unemployment to caring for ill and elderly people.
The building continued in use for institutional care until the 1980s. In 1997, the National Trust rescued the building which has a grade 11 star listing, and Lottery funding will enable the building to be developed over the next two years as a museum.



Architecture:
The Thurgarton workhouse in Southwell was an important forerunner of the radial plans workhouses. It was a three storey building of red brick with three blocks arranged around an octagonal hub: `the govenor's quarters at the centre overlooked the exercise yards.
The workhouse was designed to accommodate about 158 paupers who were issued with clogs and a uniform on entry. Inside the building the inmates were segregated by both class and gender. The design of the building was based on these classifications: the Govenor's quarters were separated from the paupers; men were kept in the east wing, women in the west and children at the rear. Double interocking staircases ensured vertical division.
Each class had an enclosed exercise yard, work-yard, day rooms and sleeping accommodation. All inmates were expected to work and the regime was intended to be harder than outside.